Stems

- [Instructor] The placement and length of stems…is something that people new to music notation…often do incorrectly.…So let's take some time to go over the basic guidelines…for how they're notated correctly.…So stems for notes above the center line…are placed on the left-hand side of the note head…and go down from the note head.…Let's do a couple.…So if I put a note on the top space, an E,…the stem should go on the left side and should go down.…Same thing for C, or D, or if I go up to F.…

Stems for notes below the center line…are placed on the right-hand side of the note head…and go upwards from the note head.…Here I'm going to write an A…and the stem on the right-hand side of the note head,…a G, an F, and let's do an E.…Context for the stem direction…of the notes surrounding the note head…placed on the center line determine the stem direction.…What that means is that if most of my notes…are down stems, and then I get one on the center line,…its stem should go down,…and same thing if we're below the center line.…

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Author

Released

10/21/2016

Want to communicate your musical ideas in the most clear and compelling way? You need to learn music notation. Notation is the written language of music: the letters and words of sound. In this course, author Rick Schmunk explains the most fundamental topics in music notation, with the intention of showing musicians and songwriters what they need to know to read and write the language and notate their musical ideas correctly.

It starts with notating pitch (clefs) and duration, including note lengths and rests. He moves into discussing flats, sharps, naturals, and key signatures, and the unique symbols for musical expression, including dynamics and articulations. He goes over notating chords and chord progressions, and the addition of vocals and lyrics. The course wraps with some score formatting tips and notation examples for piano, guitar, and drums, which pull together all the information into complete, publication-worthy pieces of sheet music.